Earwax Removal Videos Are the New Pimple Popping Videos

Don't try this at home.

If you've watched enough pimple-popping videos for all of eternity, earwax removal videos may be the next endless Youtube black hole you fall into. The latest to go viral (largely due to the r/popping subreddit, according to Insider), with over 99,000 views, is by audiologist Neel Raithatha, who removed earwax from someone's eardrum using a vacuum-like suction device.

"The client had a hairy ear canal and matted deep impacted and occluding ear wax on the eardrum," Raithatha explains in the description. "I therefore had little option but to perform Endoscopic Ear Suction (E-suction). I eventually removed two ear wax plugs off the eardrum, which were causing the client a conductive hearing loss."

A buildup of earwax in the ears can lead to impaired hearing, which is why the American Academy of Otolaryngology advises against using Q tips in the inner ear: They can push the wax inward. Just by chewing and otherwise moving your jaw, you actually push the wax out naturally. Plus, wax doesn't actually form near the eardrum—it's only around the opening of the ear canal—so if you stick a Q tip all the way down there, all you're doing is potentially pushing wax in. The only thing you should do to clean your ears is wash the outside with a cloth.

If you've got an earwax situation going on, the best way to treat it is to get drops designed to soften earwax, according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology. If that doesn't work, you could try getting an irrigation kit or seeing a doctor for irrigation, which involves putting in earwax-dissolving drops and then washing it with water or saline using a syringe. You can also get it sucked out by a doctor, like you see in this video. Don't try this at home, though.